You knew it was going to be bad. So how bad was the traffic on Thanksgiving Eve?
“Usually my smart phone traffic app is mostly yellow dotted with red, today it’s mostly red dotted with yellow,” said one Santa Clarita-area sufferer, referring to map colors that, unofficially, designate slow and reaaalllly slow.
Sgt. Brian Shreves of the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s station reported no significant accidents in the area as of 6 p.m. – meaning all those snarls were the result of volume, as people headed home from work and off to holiday events.
What, you’re surprised?
In the Santa Clarita area, the biggest traffic perps proved to be the usual suspects – the 5 and the 210.
Around 6 p.m., the Google Maps traffic app showed lots of red (for slow) along I-5 southbound from north of Castaic Junction to Stevenson Ranch, and then again from Calgrove Boulevard all the way to Sylmar.
That’s where the 5 South turned purple – unofficially, barely moving.
Maybe that purple is actually closer to maroon … indicating drivers were marooned on all those jammed stretches.
Heading north, there were nothing but reds and those dreaded purples/maroons along the 5, the 210 and the 405 from the San Fernando Valley into the Santa Clarita area.
A rule of thumb was, the farther south you went, the slower you went.
Another rule of thumb: Leave early, be patient.
More of the same was expected Thursday and Thursday night, only in reverse.
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